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Klopp tears into ‘not good’ Liverpool

Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp looks on ahead of their match against Hull City in Kingston upon Hull, north east England on February 4, 2017

LONDON, United Kingdom, Feb 28 – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had little good to say about his side after the Reds crashed to a disappointing 3-1 defeat at Leicester City on Monday.

Following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri last week, the Foxes delivered the perfect response to their critics with an emphatic win over the Merseysiders.

Danny Drinkwater struck a spectacular long-range effort either side of a Jamie Vardy brace, before Phillippe Coutinho got one back for the visitors late on.

The result sees Leicester move out of the relegation zone while Liverpool remained in fifth, albeit having played a game more than Manchester City and Arsenal above them, and Manchester United below them on the Premier League table.

“If we make our best game and play really good and we lose I have to accept it, that’s football,” Klopp told Sky Sports.

“We did not do enough. It looked like we’d never spoken about the strength of Leicester. That’s the real problem.

“I spoke in the dressing room about it. That’s not enough, for sure. That’s not even close to being enough.

“We have to work, obviously and try with everything we have to do better next time. It is really hard to see what we would usually be able to do in this performance.

“Not good in offence, not good in defence – that’s how you lose football games.

“There is no reason at this moment for this. You can always find excuses but I am not ready to look for an excuse.”

Liverpool host Arsenal in their next match next week and another defeat will be a significant blow to their Champions League qualification chances.

The Reds have an excellent record against their rivals for the top for, with four of their five Premier League defeats coming at the hands of sides in the bottom half.

“We have a week to prepare and we have to show a reaction. That’s what we have to do,” Klopp added.

“We are all playing for our future. I don’t want to be too serious but that’s how it is.

“We have to perform differently to what we did. We can be much better, we have shown it already. Not doing it feels really disappointing.

“Thank God we don’t have to play again tomorrow. After you win and you lose you have to analyse, show the boys and react on it again.”

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